


The Princess, the Knight and the Sorcerer

by sklbug15



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Good Morgana (Merlin), Misunderstandings, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 09:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18990358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sklbug15/pseuds/sklbug15
Summary: I saw an idea about how a sorcerer keeps kidnapping a princess and everyone assumes it's because he has feelings for her. But he actually has feelings for the knight that keeps coming to save her. It fits in perfectly to the Merlin fandom. So...Emrys keeps kidnapping the princess Morgana. Everyone assumes it's because he has feelings for her. Including her brother Arthur who has to keep going to save her. Of course people need to be careful what rumors they believe...





	The Princess, the Knight and the Sorcerer

The princess Morgana was gone. There were several ways Gwen knew this, but the primary being was the tree branch that was just outside of the window. There hadn't been a tree there the day before, the young woman knew for a fact, she had been working here for years after all.   
The maidservant laid the clean clothes on the bed with a heavy sigh, wondering why the tree. Emrys was powerful enough, at least that was the rumor, that he probably could have just poofed into the room. She shrugged her shoulders. Who was she to judge what a sorcerer did? Although, kidnapping a princess did warrant some judgment she supposed. Even if she (and the rest of the kingdom) did have some doubts about the princess being taken against her will. 

Gwen turned and made her way down to the yard where she knew the knights were training. The servant reached the edge of the field and paused, waiting patiently. One of the knights finally looked up spotting the servant and took off his helmet as he came over to her, blond hair sticking to his head.   
"Morgana's gone again?" he inquired, even though he clearly knew the answer.   
Gwen let out a sigh. "I don't know why he doesn't just come here to ask you for her hand, since he seems so keen on her," she replied.   
The young King looked at the servant with blue eyes, frowning slightly. "He probably knows about my father's stance on magic," he pointed out. "He may not yet have heard that Uther has stepped down from the throne."   
Gwen tilted her head considering. "It's been a month, I'd be surprised if he hadn't."  
"Regardless, it's up to me to rescue my sister. Again." Arthur turned to call his manservant, George over, giving him instructions.   
"You're King now Arthur, you can have one of the other knights go and rescue your sister," Gwen pointed out. She paused, a half smile on her lips. "I think Sir Gwaine would be willing."   
Arthur frowned. "And how would Emrys handle that? He would only view Gwaine as a competitor for Morgana's heart. I don't think annoying the powerful sorcerer is the way to go here. He knows me. It would also give him a chance to ask me for her hand. Maybe then we can settle this once and for all."   
"That would be good. Morgana seems to be getting more annoyed at being kidnapped so often. This is what the eighth time this year and it's only the sixth month."  
Arthur nodded. "I'm going to clean up and make sure everything's ready for the journey." He made his way back to the castle. 

 

Morgana sighed as she leaned back in the bath. While Emrys kidnapping her did interfere with her day to day plans, he did at least make up for it by providing her with all the comforts she wanted. It was almost like a vacation. The princess closed her eyes, and here she never had to worry about the water getting cold, it would stay warm as long as she was in the bath. It was almost worth it. A smile spread across her face as she let her mind drift. How long would it take for her dear brother to catch on? Her stomach dipped. There was more than one reason Emrys came for her so often. She took a deep breath to reassure herself. Her brother's stance on magic was a lot different from their father's. This frequent kidnapping business could be over soon.  
"My lady," the familiar voice came in through the closed door.   
"I'm almost finished here," Morgana replied back, the water splashing a bit as she stood up and reached for a towel.  
"Supper will be ready shortly," Emrys replied.   
"Of course," Morgana dried off and put on a dress that Emrys provided for her. Red was a good color on her, she thought fingering the fabric. Sadly she knew her brother would probably be here by morning. A pity, Emrys had such good taste in the dresses he gifted to her, she thought ruefully. 

Supper passed quickly, the princess and the sorcerer talking about all sorts of things. Morgana was quick to point out that her father had stepped down leaving her brother, Arthur in charge. Emrys froze at that, his blue eyes looking up at the princess slowly and a bit fearfully.   
"Arthur is a lot more laid back about magic, as long as you're not hurting anyone, it doesn't bother him," Morgana reassured him.   
Emrys nodded his head, his eyes not quite meeting hers. Morgana studied Emrys. For being so powerful he came across as quite... young and rather awkward at times. She wondered for the first time if he had any friends.   
She opened her mouth hesitantly, "I suppose your friends must be relieved that the new king views magic differently," she said.   
Blue eyes met hers.   
"You have a lot of them?" she asked. Emrys looked down at his plate quickly.   
"Do you have any friends?" Morgana pushed. He pushed some food around on his plate.   
"I, I have you?" Emrys responded softly, questioningly.   
Morgana paused, before smiling at him. "Of course," she said, her heart twinging with pain for the man across from her. Emrys rewarded her with a bright smile before digging back into his meal. 

Arthur rode up to the castle on horseback, by himself. The knights and Gwen had tried to convince him that he take someone with him, he was King now after all, but Arthur insisted he go alone. Emrys was used to him, he wasn't sure how the sorcerer would react to anyone else. 

"Emrys!" Arthur shouted. Within seconds the drawbridge was being lowered. Morgana was standing in the hall as Arthur first entered it, the sorcerer off to the side in the shadows. Arthur did a double take. Emrys looked sad. The King wasn't used to that. In the past he had always seemed happy and more than willing to call the knight names that Arthur was sure he made up. Well except the first time, he had just seemed surprised when Arthur had made it into his castle. The damn sorcerer hadn't lowered the drawbridge that time. Arthur grimaced at the memory. 

"Brother dearest, may I speak to you?" Morgana grabbed Arthur and pulled him to the side. Arthur could feel eyes on the back of his head. 

"Invite him back to the castle with us," she hissed, taking her brother by surprise.   
"What?" Arthur asked dumbly.   
"He's lonely. That's why he keeps kidnapping me. It'll just be better overall if he comes back with us," Morgana insisted. Arthur refrained from snorting. According to Gwen and nearly everyone else in the castle Emrys was definitely lonely. And pining. He wondered if it was the sorcerer's idea to get Morgana to persuade her brother to let him move into the castle. Well he couldn't allow that to happen. Not without Emrys making his intentions clear first. 

Arthur swore he had disagreed with his sister, yet somehow here he was with a sorcerer on a horse behind his. Morgana seemed far too pleased with herself as she rode next to said sorcerer. 

Arthur found himself glancing behind every so often. Emrys seemed nervous, eyes flickering to the knight and then to the princess. Morgana reached over to touch his arm gently, saying something quietly under her breath to him. His shoulders relaxed as he looked at her, then both of them looked at Arthur who quickly turned around feeling as if he were intruding on something.

Perhaps he should have sent Sir Gwaine after all, Arthur thought, surprising himself. He frowned, not knowing why he had thought that.   
They made it back to the castle fairly quickly, the King suspecting that the sorcerer had something to do with that. Morgana went straight to her room as soon as they arrived, leaving Arthur with a quiet sorcerer. The King led him to a room, neither saying anything. Arthur wasn't quite sure why, Emrys had had plenty to say to him in the past.   
Arthur turned to leave.   
"You're king now?" he turned back to look at Emrys who was rubbing his hands together nervously. He was looking down at his feet.   
Arthur was surprised to realize that they were just about the same height.  
"I am. My father, he's not in the best health, nothing serious, just getting older, so he decided he'd let me take over while he could still be around to guide me." Arthur answered.   
"Oh," blue eyes darted up to look at him.   
"Magic doesn't bother me," Arthur told him. "I'm not going to hurt you because of your magic. As long as you don't hurt anyone else that is," he added on.   
"Morgana told me that," Emrys said, looking at his feet again. His face was a pale pink, and Arthur frowned. It wasn't that warm in the hallway.   
"And it's not me that I'm worried about," he added even softer. Arthur crinkled his brows. Was there someone Emrys cared for that had magic?   
"Sire!" Arthur turned to look at Sir Leon. He turned back to Emrys, "I have to go, but rest assured you are safe here Emrys," he said. He turned to go to Leon.   
"Merlin." Arthur paused and looked back over his shoulder. "My name. It's Merlin." He was looking straight at Arthur now.   
"Merlin," he repeated. The sorcerer smiled at him before slipping into his room. Arthur felt like he couldn't catch his breathe at the sight of that smile and didn't understand why. 

A few weeks passed. Arthur saw glimpses of Merlin, usually with Morgana. Judging by Gwaine's souring mood, this was something he'd also noticed. Arthur unfortunately didn't have time to worry about that though. He was too busy running the kingdom and dodging his father's suggestions. The most notable on being who he should wed. That very thought had Arthur sweating. He wasn't the least bit interested in any of the princesses that his father suggested. Well Mithian wasn't so bad, but still, he didn't want to marry someone because they weren't the worst prospect.   
He woke in the middle of the night, blankets tangled around him. The King laid there for a moment before climbing out of bed. The halls were dark as he skulked down them. He didn't have a destination in mind, he was just trying to distract himself.   
Light spilled out into the hall ahead of him. Arthur frowned as he snuck forward.  
"Again," he heard a voice command. Merlin. He hadn't heard him sound so confident since he'd been in the castle.   
Then, words. But not ones Arthur recognized. They were foreign. And they were said in his sister's voice.   
He made it to the door and peeked around. Morgana and Merlin were in the room. Morgana said the words again, and this time an unlit candle flared to life. Arthur stumbled back. Morgana had magic?   
His mind flashed back to when Merlin had first arrived. He had said something about not being worried about himself. But, did he really think Arthur would hurt Morgana? He found himself walking back to his bed, his mind mulling over this new revelation. Should he let Morgana know that he knew?

The past few days passed quickly, Arthur keeping his eyes on the sorcerer and the way he hovered around Morgana. Protectively. And then there was a day that Arthur ran into the sorcerer alone.   
"Where's Morgana," Arthur blurted out to the dark haired man. Merlin looked at him surprised, blue eyes wide.   
"She went out to visit friends," he replied. Arthur closed his eyes briefly. How was it that this man knew more about his sister than he did?   
"I know about what you're doing with her," Arthur said. Merlin looked at him, his face betraying nothing. Good, the King thought to himself.   
"I couldn't sleep the other night," Arthur continued dropping his voice low and leaning closer to the other man. "I saw you teaching Morgana..." he trailed off as he looked at Merlin meaningfully. The man looked shaken.   
"No don't worry about that. I'm King now, I couldn't hurt Morgana not for what you're teaching her." Arthur put his hand on the sorcerer's arm.   
His skin was warm, the blond thought to himself.   
He paused a moment as Merlin stared at the hand on his arm.   
"I wouldn't say no, you know?" he finally said. Merlin's head shot up as his blue eyes bored into Arthur's own.   
"If you wanted to ask me for," he paused, "for Morgana's hand." Merlin stepped back, Arthur's hand dropping into the space between them.   
"Morgana is a friend. I care for her deeply," Merlin stated, annoyance in his tone. "But we don't care for each other like that. Besides, I think Sir Gwaine would take offense," he added on, the annoyance draining from his voice replaced with amusement.   
"So all the times you came and took her from the castle, it was just about the magic," Arthur asked.   
Merlin caught his eyes and nodded. "People really need to be much more careful about what rumors they believe," he commented.   
Arthur nodded his head before turning to leave.   
"Speaking of rumors, I've heard that you are going to ask the Princess Mithian to be your wife," Merlin said, his voice echoing in the hall.   
Arthur turned and looked at him. "I haven't made a decision yet," he admitted.   
"She would make a good queen," Merlin said. There was something else there, in his voice, the reason behind his questioning, but Arthur couldn't figure it out.   
"She would," he said, before turning and leaving the sorcerer.

Merlin stared after the King, his stomach in knots. He hadn't known who he was the first time they'd met. All he had known was that this knight, this smug blond man had made it into his castle, past his defenses to rescue Morgana. He had stood in front of him, covered in whatever was in his moat demanding the girl back. At first Merlin had assumed that he had feelings for the princess. Then it had been revealed that the arrogant knight was in fact the crown prince and therefore Morgana's brother. Even then there had been something about the young man that had tugged at Merlin. And so he had begun taking Morgana. He had made it clear from the beginning he had only wanted to help her with her magic, not many people had any magic to begin with anymore and she had the potential to be powerful. Almost as powerful as him. Plus, he wanted a friend.   
Morgana went along with it. She always seemed happy to see him.   
But what he had found himself looking forward to the most, was the man that came after her. Every time. Merlin dreamed about him a lot.   
Prince Arthur would come to him and... Merlin closed his eyes, now alone in the hall Arthur had left him in. He couldn't stop the tears trickling down his cheeks. When Morgana had revealed that Uther had stepped down and Arthur was now King, well, Merlin had known from the beginning what that would mean. He would have to marry. Have to continue the royal line. Merlin didn't know why he had even entertained any thoughts about the Prince. It was never meant to be from the start. The sorcerer went back to his room and after locking the door with his magic allowed himself to cry. 

Morgana was annoyed. Her brother was so incredibly stupid. Her and Merlin. The ridiculousness of it. She liked Merlin sure, cared for him a great deal, but he was just a friend as well as a tutor. There were no deeper feelings than that. Especially considering his feelings for the oblivous King. How everyone missed that was beyond her. Even Gwen assumed that Merlin had feelings for Morgana and she wasn't exactly stupid. The princess had considered locking Merlin and Arthur in a closet together, but her magic wouldn't be strong enough to hold up against Merlin's magic and Arthur would be sure to demand that Merlin just let them out. She sighed. She was going to have to talk to Arthur wasn't she? That was sure to be the only way that his royal obliviousness couldn't misconstrue what was going on. 

Arthur looked up as Morgana plopped herself down in a seat across from his. She waved away George wanting to be alone with her brother.   
"I'm going to get straight to the point," Morgana stated. Arthur stared at his sister.  
"One, I know father is on you about getting married and continuing the line, but I would like to point out that if you decide not to do that, you can always name a child of mine heir."   
Arthur opened his mouth to say something, bewilderment on his face and perhaps a bit of relief.   
"Two, I do not have feelings for Merlin. He merely was training me in magic."  
Arthur interrupted her. "I know, I saw him."   
Morgana paused a second. "Really?"  
Arthur nodded. "We had a conversation about it the other day. Also he informed me that he had no interest in you. Romantically that is."   
"Well," Morgana cleared her throat, "that brings me to number three, while he doesn't have romantic feelings for me, he does have romantic feelings," she paused. Arthur had straightened up and stared at her. She smiled. "For you, my dearest brother. It was part of the reason he would come and "kidnap" me."   
With that she stood. "I'll be leaving you alone now." She walked out of the room. 

Arthur paced in front of the door. He knew the guards would be staring, but he didn't care. God, his hands were sweating. He rubbed them on his tunic and paused. Before he could change his mind he knocked on the door.   
The king promptly froze when it opened to reveal a sleepy eyed sorcerer.  
"Oh." Merlin said. Arthur shoved him back and slammed the door shut behind them.   
"Is it true?" he demanded.   
Merlin stared at him. "Is what true?" he asked caught off guard.   
"Morgana says," Arthur paused and then plowed on. "She has that you have feelings for me." The man held his breath. Merlin looked away.   
"Yes," he whispered. He glanced back at the king who surged toward him. Merlin stumbled back as Arthur grabbed onto him and kissed him. Hard. And then they were on Merlin's bed, grabbing at each other, at their clothes. And then...

Five years later...  
Morgana rubbed at her belly as she sat down next to her brother and his husband. She smiled at Merlin who smiled back.   
"How is our little heir doing?" Arthur asked Morgana, gesturing to her stomach.   
"Active, like his father," she said as Gwaine came up behind her and kissed the top of her head.   
"I suspect we'll be meeting him soon enough," Merlin commented.   
"Not soon enough for me," Morgana said. She turned and said something, her eyes flashing gold, a platter lifting itself and bringing itself to her.   
"Magic is good for something after all," she said.   
"Yes, it is," Arthur said, eyes firmly on Merlin.

**Author's Note:**

> So that whole bit about being careful about what rumors you believe, yea that was prompted by the rumors that Katie and Colin are together. If you dig deep enough you'll find that when a fan asked Colin about it during a con, he was on video saying no they aren't together. Later there's an interview he did for a magazine in late 2016 where he informed them that he was single (right around the time that the rumors of their "engagement" started). Also has anyone seen them together since the show ended? I've seen pictures of him with other castmates from Merlin, but not Katie. So really lets be careful about what we believe and what rumors we spread. If neither one of them aren't on video stating they're together, don't believe it.


End file.
